Point-Of-Sale (POS) devices often include a variety of integrated devices, such as scanners, scales, integrated scanners with scales, card readers with on-screen signature capabilities, and the like.
Imaging scanners have advantages over laser scanners in that they can read two-dimensional (2D) symbols and are actually better at detecting some poor quality one-dimensional (1D) tags. However, to date imaging scanners are still relatively expensive when compared to laser scanners. This is largely due to the fact that scanners with cameras require multiple cameras (more than one) in order to view multiple sides of an object being scanned, which is a requirement for bioptic scanning.
However, recent watermarking techniques with packaging have made the need for multiple cameras less necessary. This is so because the barcode and other information can be watermarked into the entire product packaging and detected by a single camera that only images the product from one field of view, which may or may not have the original product barcode. The watermark is hidden from view. One issue with the watermark is that color is used to integrate dots throughout the packaging, such that monochrome scanner cameras with white illumination are unable to process and recognize the colored dot patterns used for watermarking the product information.
For example, Digimarc® is a popular product packaging watermarking technology. Digimarc® mostly relies on colored ink dots integrated into the packaging as product information. These colored ink dots are best viewed using red light. However, a color scanner is generally needed for recognizing the Digimarc® watermarks in a product's packaging. Most companies do not have a color scanner and upgrading to one can be expensive when companies can have tens or hundreds of thousands of scanners deployed throughout their retail stores.
However, there are still instances where monochrome scanners are desired with white illumination such as for security pictures and/or video recording by the scanner cameras. Moreover, customers and operators of the scanners actually prefer white light illumination from the scanners as opposed to red lights. It appears for whatever reasons people associated a negative connotation with red light; perhaps believing to be associated with radiation or for other reasons. Therefore, customers have been reluctant to adopt red-illumination scanners to read watermarks on packaging.